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Lucan and I listened to this one recently; it's very good.

Title: Sexual Purity  
Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Pastor: Dave Hatcher  
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The PSAT is Wednesday

The SAT and the ACT are the key standardized tests colleges will look at to see if you fit the academic profile of their school.  Of the two, the SAT is the more commonly required.  The PSAT helps you prepare for the SAT.

9th graders need this overview.
10th graders need this overview.

We will review this a bit in class.

Checklist:

Please remember to be at school by 7:30am.

What to Bring on Test Day:

 

• No. 2 pencils with erasers (mechanical pencils are not allowed) 
• Acceptable calculator (see attached document) 
• Your Student's Social Security number 
• Your email address (optional) 
• Photo ID: St. Abe's will provide this for you.
• College Board school code: 050281
• Incidentally, that school code (050281) will be the same for every PSAT, SAT, AP test, and other time any college or whatnot asks for your "school code" or "CEEB code" for St. Abraham's.  

Remember that on Thursday you will have a short comma quiz.

Thank you,

Mr. Schwager and Mr. Kelman

Thursday, 10/19/17

1. Grammar Practice from the Board

2.  Review page 2 of the comma handout

• Handout on Commas
• Page 2 requires knowledge of restrictive and nonrestrictive appositive modifiers.  
• Here is a review to help you on restrictive and nonrestrictive appositives.
• Here is another review page if you'd like to look through another.  

• In short:

•  "Restrictive" elements narrow down the specificity as you read. 
• The writer C. S. Lewis was gifted.  ("The writer" is less specific than "C. S. Lewis," so the latter words narrow down or specify the noun, and it's a restrictive situation needing no commas).

•  "Nonrestrictive" elements don't narrow the noun down.  The specific (person, place, item) is stated first, and the words or phrases add extra info. 
• C. S. Lewis, the writer, was gifted. ("C. S. Lewis" is already entirely specific, so the fact that he's a "writer" is just more information, making it nonrestrictive and requiring commas). 

3.  In class: Make five sentences featuring restrictive and five sentences featuring nonrestrictive commas.

HW:  Copy rules and provide examples for all comma rules on page 3 of our handout on commas.



 

To Quiz or Not to Quiz, That is the Question

Not to quiz this Friday, because you have not had art in one month, and your art teacher requested the day. 

I'm sure you'll all be depressed.  I'll have Kleenex for you on Thursday.

Enjoy,

Mr. S

Coordinate Vs. Cumulative Adjectives

Resources to help you understand coordinate and cumulative adjectives:

Brief and Simple: Get it Write
More Expansive: Grammar 101 

Enjoy!

Mr. S

Quarter 1 Binder Check

Here is what I should see in a binder:

1. The Thesis: Firm, Fitting, and Fetching (student fill-in copy)

• The Thesis: Firm, Fitting, and Fetching (with teaching notes)

2. Thesis Quiz

• Thesis Retake (for those who retook the quiz)

3. The New SAT 12 Pt - 3 Score Rubric

4. Prompt #1 Training: LA Times Article: "Let There Be Dark"

• With 4 Sample Student Essays (included in link above)

5. Prompt #2 Training: Dana Gioia: "Why Literature Matters"

• 3 Sample Student Essays

6. Your Own Essay with Corrections

7. Class Notes on Essay Development: Claim, Support, Evaluate

8. Class Notes on Commas

9. Handout on Commas

10. Grammar Practice from the Board

10/12/17: Comma Coma

1. Fix the Daily Grammar Practice Sentence

2. Hand out MLA Comma Rule Sheets

3. Comma Assignment #1: On your own lined paper, for each of the 10 rules

• Copy the rule
• Make example sentences for each of each type of example given and for each letter
• Due Date: 10/17 (beginning of class, as every assignment for this class)

4. Binder Check

HW: Finish Comma Assignment #1 (Rule Sheet from North Greenville University)

Rubrics

These are the essay rubrics we use:

1.  The New SAT Essay; 12 point (for rhetorical analysis papers)

• The Rubric with Grade Percentages
• See Here for Student Samples and Such 

2.  The Original SAT essay; 6 points (for more open-ended prompts less analysis dependent)

•  The Original SAT with Grade Percentages

3.  Advanced Analysis Writing: 9 points (for literary analysis)

• Student Fill-In 
• Teacher Version  
• Vast Treasure Trove of Prompts and Student Essay Samples